If you want to get a sense of where the real innovation in
smartphones is happening, you need to look past the high-end flagships
and toward the cheap stuff. And with the
new Moto E, Motorola has crafted one of the most compelling budget smartphones yet. Starting at just $150, it's a tad more expensive than
last year's $120 model,
but it makes up for that with upgrades that make it a far more usable
phone. Those include the addition of LTE, 8GB of built-in storage (twice
as much as its predecessor) and a slightly bigger screen. (Moto's also
offering a $120 3G-only version.) It may not sound all that exciting if
you're waiting for the new Galaxy S6 or HTC One, but it's a solid choice
for someone who doesn't need a powerful phone. And it's yet another
sign that even the geekiest among us may soon be springing for
inexpensive, contract-free phones.
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Moto E review (2015)
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Motorola
Moto E (2015)
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Elegant and comfortable design
- Great battery life
Cons
- Generally slow performance, despite good hardware
- Mediocre camera
- Display is difficult to read outdoors
Summary
Motorola's new Moto E is a solid improvement over its predecessor,
with plenty of features for a low price. But it's also easy to see where
Motorola had to sacrifice quality to make it inexpensive.
Hardware
The Moto E should feel familiar to anyone who's held a Motorola phone since the
Moto X debuted in 2013. Even though the company's owner has since
shifted
from Google to Lenovo, Motorola is still sticking with the same
curved-case design, which fits oh so nicely into your hand. Sure, it's
still made out of plastic, but for this price I'm not expecting a metal
unibody getup. What's truly impressive is that the Moto E doesn't feel
like a toy, even though it's one of the most inexpensive smartphones you
can buy right now. In 2014 we were amazed that a decently capable
smartphone could be cheap. This year, the big takeaway is that it
actually has some style to it.
The smooth edges from last year's model, which tended to make things a
bit slippery, have been replaced by ridges that help quite a bit with
grip. In general, the device has a nice, solid feel, largely thanks to
the lack of a removable rear panel (read: there isn't much to flex). If
you want to get to your SIM card or add more storage, you just have to
snap off the phone's plastic perimeter (available in several colors).
Motorola's slight screen bump to 4.5 inches, up from 4.3, makes the
Moto E feel even snugger in your hand. Even more importantly, the
addition of LTE makes it just as capable as more expensive phones when
it comes to downloading and streaming media. Unfortunately, its screen
resolution is still stuck at a relatively paltry 960 x 540 (qHD). It's
once again packing a 5-megapixel camera, but there's now a 0.3 megapixel
(VGA!) front-facing shooter as well. That won't be much use for taking
quality selfies, but at least you've got the option for video chat now.
While most of the Moto E's hardware makes a strong first impression,
its display is where you begin to see the sacrifices Motorola made to
reach such a low price. It's a decently bright, colorful IPS LCD screen
that fares well indoors, but once you step outside it becomes a pain.
The smallest amount of sunlight makes it hard to see anything on the
screen. (The photo above was taken at its highest brightness on a
partially cloudy day.) It's not impossible to use, but it's certainly
not user-friendly. You can't blame Motorola too much, though: There
simply aren't many inexpensive displays that can take on the sun well.
The other problem with the Moto E's screen is its relatively low 960 x
540 resolution, which ends up making text, photos and just about
everything else a tad less sharp than on other smartphones. It's not a
night-and-day difference from the 1080p displays we're used to today,
but it's still a noticeable step down. I came to dread reading long
articles on the phone during my subway commute, whereas that was usually
the time where I put a dent in my Pocket queue. Maybe that was just an
unconscious reaction to the lower specs, but it's still worth noting. If
you're stepping down from a more capable display, you'll probably get
used to the lower resolution, though. And it probably won't even
register to people upgrading from other cheap handsets, or buying their
first smartphone.
Software
No, the Moto E doesn't run stock Android 5.0.2
Lollipop
-- but it's close. Sticking with a strategy it's used since the first
Moto X, Motorola once again managed to deliver a phone that's mostly
free of the crapware that plagues other devices. It packs in apps from
Plex, Revision3 and Flixster, but those are things you may actually want
to use, so I didn't find them bothersome.
The few custom Moto tweaks actually make it more appealing than a
totally stock Android phone. There's Moto Display, which lights up
notifications on the phone's screen when you pick it up or rock it on a
flat surface. Surprisingly, Motorola even brought over the double-twist
gesture, which quickly loads the camera when you flick your wrist twice
while holding the phone. Just as with the Moto X, that gesture gets you
to the camera at any point, including when it's still locked. Those
sorts of innovations were one of the key selling points for the original
Moto X, which makes it all the more impressive that they're here at
all.
Camera
Just like its screen, the Moto E's so-so camera capabilities won't
make you forget that you're using a cheap phone. Its 5-megapixel rear
shooter performs fine in daylight and bright indoor scenes, but it's
pretty much useless in low light. And no, there's no flash either, if
you're into that sort of thing. In decent lighting, the Moto E's camera
delivered usable shots, but they were all a bit soft and lacked fine
detail. There's also quite a bit of color fringing when the sun creeps
into your photos. It's a camera that'll be ideal for quickly throwing
photos up on Facebook or Instagram, but it won't give you any
high-quality keepsakes.
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Moto E (2015) camera samples
I didn't spend too much time with last year's Moto E, but there seems
to be a slight improvement in overall photo quality when compared to
the test shots in our last review. And -- good news! -- you can finally
record high-definition video. It's only 720p, but it's something.
Once again, Motorola's simplified camera software is the Moto E's
saving grace. You can tap anywhere on the screen, or hit one of the
volume buttons, to snap a shot. There's no need to aim for a virtual
shutter button. Autofocus is just fine (it's sometimes snappier than
more expensive smartphones I've tested), and the phone generally manages
to take a photo in under a second. But of course, there's no fancy
image stabilization here, so the quality of your photos will usually
depend on how steady you can hold the Moto E. As for that wrist-flick
camera gesture, I was honestly surprised at how well it worked. It
typically launched the camera in just a few seconds -- yes, even when
the phone was locked -- and it ended up being faster than my iPhone 6 on
several occasions.
Performance and battery life
|
Moto E (2015) |
Moto E (2014) |
Moto G (2014) |
Moto X (2014) |
| Quadrant 2.0 |
12,352 |
5,264 |
8,846 |
22,721 |
| Vellamo 3.0 |
1,929 |
1,173 |
1,669 |
2,093 |
| SunSpider 1.0.2 (ms) |
1,368 |
1,626 |
1,534 |
787 |
| CF-Bench |
17,483 |
6,483 |
14,470 |
39,018 |
| SunSpider: Lower scores are better; results compiled on Chrome. |
Acceptable. That's the best way to describe the Moto E's overall
performance. Its 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor is fine at
accomplishing a single task, like navigating through YouTube and
watching videos, scrolling through web pages or browsing through music
on Spotify. But once you start asking the phone to do more than one
thing at a time -- say, browsing Twitter while Google Play downloads and
updates apps in the background -- it becomes an exercise in
frustration. Everything takes way too long to load, and it almost feels
like you're fighting through a veneer of molasses as you interact with
the phone's touchscreen. That's especially surprising since it's packing
a gig of RAM.
Even when you're not overloading the phone, the Moto E feels
considerably slower than most other handsets. There's always a
quarter-second delay when you're doing just about anything, be it
tapping an app icon, hitting a link in Chrome or making fast gestures
with your fingers. But again, this is a $150 phone! A certain amount of
slowdown is acceptable for a phone in this price range. And, as with its
camera deficiencies, the less discriminating smartphone shopper might
not notice the issues.
What's most impressive about the Moto E? It's
much faster than its predecessor, and in some benchmarks it even bests the
new Moto G.
That raises some questions, though: Why, exactly, does it feel slower
than the revamped Moto G when it has more powerful hardware? My guess is
that lower-quality components, like its touchscreen, end up negating
the hardware bonuses. Swiping and scrolling on the Moto G's screen feels
buttery smooth, whereas the Moto E's screen feels like you're swiping
through butter.
After using the Moto E for several days, its speed issues bothered me
less and less. In fact, it might be the ideal for anyone who feels
overwhelmed by the onslaught of digital information we face every day.
It forces you to be mindful and methodical about everything you're
doing. This may just be the first phone that's best suited for the Zen
state of mind. If you haven't mastered your inner calm yet, though, then
you might be better off with the Moto G.
One benefit of being slightly underpowered? Great battery life. I was
typically left with around 25 percent of battery after a full day of
use. The Moto E also managed to last around 10.5 hours on our standard
battery test, which involves looping a 720p video at half of the
screen's brightness until it dies. That's a huge jump over the original
Moto E, which hung in there for 5:45. It also lasted more than seven
hours across a slew of other battery tests, which involved browsing
websites, running a bit of 3D games and playing media. The Moto E's
2,390mAh cell is a solid improvement over the previous model's 1,980mAh
capacity, but it's also helped by better energy management in Android
Lollipop and the Snapdragon 410 processor. For someone who doesn't use
their phone very often, it may end up lasting two days on a charge.
The competition
Cheapo Android smartphones aren't hard to find, but most of them aren't devices you'd actually want to use. Sharp's
$149 AQUOS Crystal
is a decent option, but you can only snag it on Sprint or Boost Mobile.
There are also plenty of low-end Windows Phones, like the recently
announced $70
Lumia 430
and the Lumia 640, but you'd have to forgo Android's richer app
ecosystem to use one of those. The Moto E, as an inexpensive phone that
proves itself capable with a solid selection of features, is a rare
breed. It's a significant step up from last year's model, which didn't
even have LTE.
The toughest decision with the new Moto E? At $150, it's only
slightly less than the $180 Moto G, which has a 5-inch screen, a
significantly better camera and a far more responsive interface. I bet
the new Moto E's $120 3G variant will end up being far more popular than
the LTE version I tested out.
Wrap-up
If your main concern when choosing a smartphone is price, and you
don't want to be locked into a lengthy carrier contract, the Moto E is a
good choice. Motorola's done a fine job of bringing its curvy design
and technology down to a low price point (though it'll be even more
appealing when the LTE version gets a price drop). Even if it's not
quite your bag, you can't deny what Motorola has done. Companies like
OnePlus and Xiaomi are getting plenty of credit for making cheap phones
with high-end hardware, but even those phones would be overkill for less
demanding users. Motorola, on the other hand, has taken that idea even
further by making the lowest of the low end something you'd actually
want to buy.
down.
